Namibia

Donkey business

A nice way to protect drivers—and donkeys

FORGET drunken driving. When cruising along Namibia's long and empty roads, unsuspecting drivers face a no less dangerous hazard: sleeping donkeys. At night, the warm tarmac provides a much more comfortable bed than the vast expanses of land only a few yards away. Invisible in the dark, the dormant asses, which help plough Namibia's land and pull its carts, have become a cause of many a car crash, to the dismay of drivers and the police alike. In May, the head of the president's guard was killed—by a donkey.

Russell Hay, a British businessman, is no stranger to asininity. While living in Namibia, he has twice driven into a donkey. On a lonely northern stretch, he swerved to avoid one, only to see it flattened by a lorry behind him.

Earlier this year, he and a friend set up Donkey Welfare of Namibia. With the Namibian government's blessing, the British outfit is planning to make donkeys glow in the dark by attaching reflective tags to their ears.

A pilot scheme is about to be started in two or three of Namibia's donkey hot spots. If it works, Donkey Welfare is thinking of enrolling local schools to tag the animals for a small fee—and British animal lovers may be asked to contribute. Donkey Welfare is also thinking of paying for donkeys and yellow carts, painted in the fashion of American school buses, to lug children to school. Namibia's 200,000-odd donkeys should be enough to do the job.